Beam dyeing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A pressure chamber rotatably supports internally a removable perforated tubular beam about which fabric to be treated is wrapped. The hollow beam is provided with a propeller rigidly mounted coaxially within the beam and is adapted to rotate the beam under the pressure of a dyeing liquid pumped therethrough. The dye beam is supported at one end by a rotary seal communicating with a conduit connected to a pump and at its other end by a hinged gate mounted to swing in proximity with a hinged hatch. A dolly having a cantilevered and hydraulically operated cradle is mounted on tracks for movement in and out of the vessel when the hatch is open to replace dye beams.

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lie Welles Warren/l 1 a snmei [72] inventor Hamill lR. Wilenx:

6 Howard Rand, Maynard, Mess" llll'lfii l [2]] App]. No 880,693 [22]Filed Nov 28, WM [45] Patented Aug. 3, B971 [54} IEEAM ill MEWSAIPPAEMTUS 9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. (ll lifilllfill, 68/198, 68/210 [51] int. (Ill Ell 5e Will [50]liield oll Seareh..... 68/8, 150, 198, 210

[5 6] Reierenees Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,471,658 l0/1923 l-leap68/150 ul A 1,5l3j88 ill/192 i Dehnerl 68/150 lid L503 22/"! 925 J /IJI-"r 68/150 3,1009% 8/1963 Si: 1y 68/150 Prin'lary Exmhiner William i.Price rlil0l"l'ilE}-- Morse, Altman and Gates nally a removableperforated tubular beam about which fabric to he treated is wrapped. Thehollow beam is provided with a propeller rigidly lamented eoaxiailywithin the beam and is adapted no rotate "the beam under the pressure ofa dyeing liquid pumped therethrough. The dye beam is supported at oneend by a rotary seal communicating with a conduit connected lo a pumpand H its other end by a hinged gate mounted to swing in proximity witha hinged hatch. A dolly having a cantilevered and hydraulically operatedcradle is mounted on tracks for movement in and out of the vessel whenthe hatch is open to replace cly-e beams.

PATENTEUAUE 31% 3,596,481

SHEET 1 OF 2 INVENTOR HAROLD R. WILCOX ATTORNEYS PATENTEU AUG 3m:

SHEET 2 BF 2 w OE INVENTOR HAROLD R. WILCOX w l x23. m @E ZQQMMXM l Q35m 1052 &. mm m? ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of theInvention This invention relates generally to equipment for dyeingtextiles and more particularly is directed towards a new and improvedhigh-temperature beam dyeing apparatus.

2. History of the Prior Art r In the production of textile materials thefabric, in many instances, is subjected to dyeing processes. The dyeingequipment employed may be of the open vat type in which dyeing is doneat atmospheric pressure or, more desirably, it is carried out atelevated temperatures under pressure. For this purpose a pressure vesselis commonly used in which a perforated roll, known as a dye beam, ismounted for rotation within a chamber and the dyeing liquor pumped intothe dye beam for passage out through the fabric wrapped about the beam.The beam is rotated commonly by means of a motor. Customarily, thechamber is provided with internal rails for sliding the beam into andout of the chamberpCertain problems are present in existing dyeingequipment of this type in that the use of a motor to drive thebeam'requires the installation of rotary pressure seals in the wall ofthe pressure vessel and the presence of the internal rails overcrowdsthe interior of the vessel and reduces the capacity of the dye beam.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provideimprovements in fabric dyeing equipment and it is a more particularobject of this invention to provide improvements in high-temperature,high-pressure beam dyeing equipment. It is a further object of thisinvention to provide means for facilitating the loading and unloading ofa beam dyeing apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention features beam dyeing apparatuscomprising a pressure vessel having an opening with a door for access tothe interior of the vessel. A hinged gate is mounted normally across theopening to support one end of a perforated dye beam mounted within thevessel. The other end of the dye beam is mounted at the opposite end ofthe vessel against a rotary seal and in communication with a conduitthrough which the dyeing liquor is pumped. The beam is provided withfixed internal propellers which cause rotation of the beam under theforce of the liquor flowing into the beam. External tails are providedparallel to the beam axis to support a dolly having a cantileveredhydraulically operated cradle adapted to move into and out of the vesselwhen open to provide ease of loading and unloading and to eliminateinternal obstructions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS along the line 3-3 of DETAILED DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings and to FIG. 1in particular, the dyeing apparatus of the invention is generallyorganized about a pressure vessel It), typically in the form of ahorizontally mounted cylinder supported in a raised position by means offrame members 12. The vessel 10 is closed at the right-hand end byendwall 14 and the open left-hand end thereof is provided with a hatch ordoor 16 mounted by a hinge l8 and adapted to swing from a closedposition to a fully open position in order to provide maximum accessinto the interior of the vessel. Mounted directly within the opening inproximity to the hatch i6 is a gate 20 supported! by an interior hinge22. The gate 29 is provided with roller bearings 24', to support the endof a dye beam 26 when mounted in position. It also is furnished with aclamping screw 28 operated by means of a handwheei 30 for tightening thebeam 26 into position against a rotary seal M (FIGS. and 5 at theopposite end of the vessel. The free end of the gate Eli is lockedagainst the opposite wall oithe vessel by means of a pin 33, droppedthrough a bracket 32 mounted opposite the hinge 22.

The beam is in the form of a hollow cylinder the walls oi which areformed with perforations 3d and the ends of which are reduced at 36 and38 for rotatably engaging roller bearings 24 on the gate and rollerbearings (EEG. at the opposite end of the vessel. As viewed in FIG. 2the right-hand end of the dye beam is open to permit the dyeing liquidto be pumped axially into the dye beam. Mounted inside the beam near theinlet end thereof are fixed propellers dd coaxial with the beam axis. Todirect the flow of the incoming fluid into a radially outward path abaffle 42 is provided in spaced opposition to the inlet end of the dyebeam. The fixed propellers 40, being located directly behind the baffleand in close proximity to the inlet, will react against the flow tocause rotation of the beam about its axis under the force of the pumpedliquor without the need of separate driving means such as a motor, forexample, which would require a pressure rotary seal through the end wallin addition to other accessories.

The inner or inlet end of the dye beam, when in operating position,bears up against the rotary seal Till provided at the end of an inletpipe dd passing through the end wall 14 of the chamber 10. The neck ofthe dye beam at the inlet end is supported by the rollers 38 whichpermit rotation of the dye beam. The pipe 44 is connected to accessoryequipment such as a valve 45 connected to the discharge and suction sideof a pump 47 to permit a dye liquor to flow through the pipe in eitherdirection as desired although the more common practice is to use thepipe 44 primarily as an inlet for the liquor. The pump typically isdriven by a suitable electric motor 49 and an expansion tank 51 normallyis connected to the system as are drain lines, return lines, safetyvalves and the like.

The dye beam is forced into a snug engagement with the seal 31 by meansof the screw 28 operated by hand wheel 3% which bears against theopposite end of the dye beam. The tightening mechanism, as previouslydescribed, is mounted to the hinged gate which is independent of thehatch id to permit the dye beam to be independently supported andpositioned prior to closing the hatch. The hatch to is provided with asuitable gasket and clamped tight by means of dogs d6.

Interior slide supports for the dye beam are not required in thepressure chamber and the available space within the chamber is increasedby the use of a dolly 48 having a cantilevered cradle 59 and movablymounted on rails 52 exterior to the chamber Ill and running parallel tothe axis of the dye beam. As shown in PEG. 1, the loaded dye beam 26 maybe placed on the cradle fill initially by an overhead crane or otherlifting mechanism and is then transferred into the chamber it) by movingthe dolly ll along the rails 52 until the inlet end of the dye beam isin position against the seal 31. The cradle 5t) extend forwardly fromhydraulic lifting mechanism 5 3 forming part of the dolly unit to permitthe cradle, with its load to be raised or lowered not only to deliverthe dye beam correctly in position but also to lower the cradle and tomove the dolly clear once the dye beam has been properly mounted.

In practice, the chamber first is fully opened with both the hatch andgate swung back out of the way as suggested in FIG. ll. The dollytogether with the dye beam is moved forwardly to push the dye beam endagainst the seal at which point the gate propellers 40; When the processis complete, the tank is drained, the hatch openedand the dolly with itscradle inserted so as to lift the dye beam from its supporting rollers.The gate is then. swung back out of the way, the cradle withdrawn withthe dye beam then transferred to other processes.

The rails 52 may be provided with stops 56 to limit the travel of thedolly rails. While the rails are shown mounted below the tank similaradvantages may be obtained by mounting the 'railsabove the tank andsuspending the dolly with its cradle from the overhead rails.

Having thus described the invention what I claim and desire h to obtainby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Textile-dyeing apparatus, comprising a. a pressure chamber having anaccess opening formed therein, b, a door for closing said opening,

c. a dye beam mountable in said chamber,

, v-d. first bearing means at one end of said chamber for said beam ishollow and the walls thereof are perforated and 4 3. Textile dyeingapparatus accordingto claim 1 wherein piping means for delivering fluidinto one end of said beam.

4. Textile-dyeing apparatus accordingto claim 3 including propellerscoaxially mounted in fixed position within said beam for causingrotation of said beam in reaction to the flow of said fluid.

5. Textile dyeing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said secondbearing means includes rollers, a hinged support for said rollersmounted to said chamber in proximity to said opening.

6. Textile-dyeing apparatus according to claim 5 including a screw clampmounted to said support and coaxial with said beam for tightening saidbeam in position.

7. Textile-dyeing apparatus according to claim 2 including lifting meansmounting said tray to said dolly for raising and lowering said tray.

8. A dye beam, comprising a. a tubular cylinder open at one end andclosed at the other, I

b. the cylindrical walls of said beam being perforated,

c. propeller blades mounted in fixed position within said cylinderadjacent the open end of said cylinder and coaxial with said cylinder. v

9. A dye beam according to claim 8 including baffle means disposedbetween said blades and the open end of said beam for directing fluidoutwardly of said beam.

1. Textile-dyeing apparatus, comprising a. a pressure chamber having anaccess opening formed therein, b. a door for closing said opening, c. adye beam mountable in said chamber, d. first bearing means at one end ofsaid chamber for rotatably supporting one end of said beam, e. secondbearing means movably mounted at said opening for rotatably supportingthe opposite end of said beam, and, f. loading means external of saidchamber for transferring said beam into and out of said chamber. 2.Textile-dyeing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said loading meansincludes a dolly movable to and away from said chamber and acantilevered tray mounted to said dolly for supporting said beam. 3.Textile dyeing apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said beam ishollow and the walls thereof are perforated and piping means fordelivering fluid into one end of said beam.
 4. Textile-dyeing apparatusaccording to claim 3 including propellers coaxially mounted in fixedposition within said beam for causing rotation of said beam in reactionto the flow of said fluid.
 5. Textile dyeing apparatus according toclaim 1 wherein said second bearing means includes rollers, a hingedsupport for said rollers mounted to said chamber in proximity to saidopening.
 6. Textile-dyeing apparatus according to claim 5 including ascrew clamp mounted to said support and coaxial with said beam fortightening said beam in position.
 7. Textile-dyeing apparatus accordingto claim 2 including lifting means mounting said tray to said dolly forraising and lowering said tray.
 8. A dye beam, comprising a. a tubularcylinder open at one end and closed at the other, b. the cylindricalwalls of said beam being perforated, c. propeller blades mounted infixed position within said cylinder adjacent the open end of saidcylinder and coaxial with said cylinder.
 9. A dye beam according toclaim 8 including baffle means disposed between said blades and the openend of said beam for directing fluid outwardly of said beam.